Continuous casting plant having adjustable strand guide means



I United States Patent 1111 3,550,675

I 72] Inventors Walter Hess; [56] References Cited gl nsi ala Dgsseldorlf; Jf n g UNITED STATES PATENTS aar ou 5' ar an: new au 3,465,864 9/1969 Lod1ge 193/35 7] A I N 2 3,263,284 8/1966 Orr et al. (164/282UX) l h 1968 3,347,308 /1967 Saunders 164/282 e l d 1970 3,370,642 2/1968 Meier et al 164/282 l e 1 3,438,425 4/1969 Butkevich m1. 164/282X [73] Ass1gnee Schloemann Aktlengesellschaft Dusseldorf, Germany FOREIGN PATENTS acompany of Germany 874,036 8/1961 Great Britain 164/282 [32] Priority Jan.27, 1967 950,882 2/1964 Great Britain 164/282 1 Germany Primary Examiner.l. Spencer Overholser 1 1 schwus Assistant Examiner-R. Spencer Annear Attorney-Sandoe, Neill, Schottler & Wikstrom ABSTRACT: In a casting plant wherein a continuously cast strand of metal emerges from a mould, groups guide rollers at [54] opposite sides of the emerging strand are mounted on frames. m 4 D in The frames at one side of the strand are movable toward and 4c a '7" g away from the strand to adjust for strands of different [52] US. Cl 164/282, thickness and movable spacing members are provided to be 193/35, 198/204 interposed between elements of opposed frames for establish- [51] lmJl ..B22d 11/12 ing and maintaining the desired spacing. In addition the [50] Field of Search 193/35, respective rollers are resiliently mounted in the frames to ac- 359R, B, 35C; 164/82, 89, 282, 283; 198/204 commodate irregularities in the surfaces of the strand.

PATENTEDUEEZQIQYB 3550675 sum 1 OF 2 FIGJ FIGA IMVENTORS WALTER ME88 HANS-METER $CHULZ Jun LANG v KARL-M INZ BAUER EY PAUL DESFOSSEZ M m m ATTORNEYS CONTINUOUS CASTING PLANT HAVING ADJUSTABLE STRAND GUIDE MEANS The invention relates to continuous casting plant comprising adjustable guide means for guiding castings of different dimensions after they have left the continuous casting mould.

These guide means for the castings in continuous casting plant usually consist of a plurality of guide rollers disposed in pairs consecutively along the length of the casting guide way 111 such manner that the rollers of each pair are located on opposite sides of the casting. If the continuous casting plant is to be capable of producing castings of different cross sections the spacing of the rollers must be appropriately adjustable to the cross section required in each particular case. Adjustability necessitates the provision of rather complicated adjusting means which are inconvenient to operate besides being awkward to set to a desired constant cross section. In this connection it must also be borne in mind that even minor errors in ad jistment, such as a single inaccurately set roller may result in this roller either failing to make proper contact with the casting surface and thereby impeding the transfer of heat required for adequate cooling or pressing too hard against the casting surface and thereby possibly deforming the casting which is still fairly plastic as it moves through-the guideway. Quite apart from an actual maladjustment, difficulties of the same kind may even arise when the guide rollers have been adjusted with the greatest care inasmuch as the casting leaving the mould may already exhibit major surface irregularities or with even worse effects foreign bodies may accidentally enter the guideway. Such circumstances are responsible for the occurrence of metal break-through, which always necessitates stopping the plant for carrying out expensive repairs involving the removal of the parts that have been directly affected as well as of any other parts that happen to be in the way. These irregularities could lead to guiding roller breaks especially when the casting is comparatively cold.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide continuous casting plant of the above described kind in which such difficulties cannot arise. More particularly, it is the object of the invention so to contrive the plant that the guide rollers can be adjusted with the greatest precision in the shortest possible time. For achieving these objects the invention substantially proposes that the guideway should consist of rollers mounted in a frame surrounding the continuous casting, that the elements of said frame which extend perpendicularly to the longitudinal roller axes on opposite sides of the rollers should be relatively displaceable and locatable by exchangeable spacing members of different thicknesses to establish the exact gap width required by the thickness of the castings. Conveniently, the frame elements may be relatively movable by hydraulic drive means in which the adjusting forces are generated by a hydraulic fluid. The forces in such a closed frame are completely self-contained and the rollers are locatable at the exact relative distance determined by the spacing members. Since the spacing members form part of the selfcontained system of forces, they ensure an absolutely precise relative adjustment of the cooperating rollers. A numerically small set of different spacing members permits any desired gap width between the cooperating rollers to be established. Conveniently the spacing members may be arranged to be inserted in combinations in a manner analogous to the combination of a set of different weights. In a preferred form of construction the relatively movable frame elements may comprise double acting rams of whichthe cylinders are attached to a platen which carries the bearing members of one or more rollers, whereas the piston rods are pivotably linked to a platen carrying the bearing members of the roller or rollers on the opposite side of the frame, said spacing members being deflectably insertable between an abutment member on the piston rods and the annular end face of the associated cylinders. The provision of two cylinders, one at each end of the platen ensures that during adjustment the rollers cannot be tilted out of parallelism since the hydraulic medium can be admitted equally and uniformly into both cylinders. If during operation any slight displacement out of the plane of the frame should occur, such displacement cannot affect the ram cylinders because the piston rods are pivotably linked to one of the platens. Moreover, the deflectable disposition of the spacing members also ensures that these will always be ready and available where they are required to be inserted and that they need not be completely removed. If operational trouble should arise and necessitate the dismantling of parts of the continuous casting plant, the halves of the frames which carry the guide rollers can be quickly withdrawn in opposite,

directions by suitably controlling the admission of hydraulic fluid into the double-acting ram cylinders and a wide shaft can thus be opened into which hoisting and like gear can be readily lowered. Preferably, the spacing members have U-type portions and incorporate levers, a plurality of which may be jointed to control rods. It is therefore possible to change the thickness of the casting quickly without having to interchange parts of the adjusting equipment.

The invention will be hereinafter more particularly described with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a guideway for continuous casting according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view vertically through the guideway according to FIG. 1, looking at the rollers which face the wider side of the cast slab at one side of the guideway;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view vertically through the guideway according to FIG. 1, at right angles to the view of FIG. 2 and looking at the ends of the roller, and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged elevational view, partly in section showing a particular embodiment of the roller mountings.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows two guide rollers, l and 2, of a pair after having been adjusted to the thickness of a continuously cast slab 3. The guide rollers are joumaled at each end in bearing members 4 and 4" secured respectively to platens 5 and 5'. The platen 5, together with two ram cylinders 6 built into the same, forms'the fixed side of a frame. Pistons 8 attached to piston rods 7 are slidable in the cylinders 6. A hydraulic fluid can be admitted on either side of the pistons. The free ends of the piston rods 7 carry abutment members 9, which limit the depth of retraction ofthe pistons into their cylinders and which are attached to the other platen 5 by hinge pins 10. The described arrangement represents a closed force generating system which transmits no forces to the outside.

Interposed between each piston rod abutment 9 and the cooperating end face of the cylinder 6, formed by a ring 11, is a spacing member 12 which is pivotably mounted in the abutmerit member 9 provided with an outwardly extending lever arm 12'. The latter permits the spacing member 12 to be operated in a manner that will be later described by a shift rod 13 extending in the direction of travel of the casting.

As will be most readily understood from FIG. 2 the spacing members 12 are preferably shaped in the form of a hook designed to embrace the piston rod 7. The ends of the arms 12' are attached by hinge couplings 14 to the shift rod 13 which is displaceable by an actuator cylinder 15 secured to the end of the roller guideway or to the end of a section thereof. As shown in FIG. 2 all the consecutively disposed spacing members 12 may be coupled to the shift rod 13 in such a way that by operation of the actuator cylinder 15 all the spacing members 12 can be conveniently moved at the same time. When a piston. attached to the end of the shift rod 13 is withdrawn into the actuator cylinder 15, the spacing members 12 will all be deflected into the positions indicated in discontinuous lines. For the sake of clarity, only one spacing member 12 is shown associated with each hydraulic cylinder 6. However, it is preferred to provide a plurality of spacing members 12 forming a stack that can be built up in the direction of motion of the piston rod 7 and in which each spacing member can be swung in and out in the same way as the illustrated spacing operate the several spacing members comprised in each stack.

As will be most clearly understood by reference to FIG. 3 a plurality of consecutive rollers l and 2 in the direction of motion of the casting may be combined to form a unit that can be conjointly adjusted, each unit comprising a fixed platen 5 carrying bearing members for the rollers and a cooperating movable platen 5' which is movable in relation thereto. This permits the entire guideway to be divided into separate zones each independently adjustable as may be desired. Dot-dash line contours indicate that a first zone 17 directly follows the end of the casting mould 16, further zones 18, 19 and 20 shown in full lines consecutively adjoining this first zone. The platens 5 and 5' in zone 18 have been moved apart to the fullest possible extent and the associated guide rollers thus define a wide shaft through which the next zone 19 is accessible from the end nearest the mould.

ln FIGS. 2 and 3 only one actuator cylinder 15 is provided for the operation of a shift rod 13. If spacing members of different thicknesses are each to be operated by an associated shift rod 13 and an actuator cylinder 15 and the latter must therefore be disposed in staggered adjacence, the disposition of the cylinders will necessitate providing the lever arms 12' of the spacing members 12 with appropriate offsets.

In the arrangement that has been described the rollers l and 2 are held in their prescribed positions by a relatively powerful thrust. In order to permit the rollers to yield to major irregularities of the casting surface as well as to any foreign bodies that may have accidentally entered the guideway and at the same time to ensure that the rollers will maintain contact with the surface of the casting at points where the casting is thinner, it is useful so to mount the bearing members 4 and 4" of the rollers in the platens 5 and 5 that they are resiliently supported roughly perpendicularly to the casting surface. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 the necessary resilient support is provided by a set of springs 21 in the form of a stack of dished springs which develop a very powerful thrust, but which are not stressed during normal operation. Facing the roller, the stack of springs bears against a retaining ring 22 which also supports the bearing member 4. To this end the bearing member 4 is formed with a guide pin 4' which is movable within the limits permitted by a slot 23 engaged by a pin 24. In the illustration the bearing members 4 are fully extended, but they are capable of yielding to the right in the drawing, when the load on the roller unduly rises, until the pin 24 strikes the other end of its slot. In order to ensure the maintenance of metallic contact between the rollers l and 2 and the surface of the casting and a continued efficient transfer of heat in regions where the casting is thinner, the guide pin 4 of the bearing member 4 is also loaded by a set of springs 25 which is, however, substantially weaker than the stack of springs 21. The set of springs 25 bears against the interior of a threaded cap 26 or the like which is attached to the platen, and applies thrust to a flat ring 27 which in turn bears on a thrust rod 28 for transmitting this thrust to the guide pin 4. The position of the thrust rod 28 can be varied according to requirements by means of a set screw 29 which extends through the cap and engages the end of the thrust rod. Hence the upper half of the thrust rod in the drawing is shown to make contact with the guide pin 4', whereas the bottom half has been slightly retracted to the right by readjustment of the screw 29.

We claim:

1. In a continuous casting plant wherein a strand of metal continuously cast in a mould emerges therefrom, a guideway for the strand comprising guide rollers mounted in frames that are located to be at respectively opposite sides of the strand, said rollers being resiliently mounted in the frames for movement, relative to the frames, toward and away from a strand passing through the guideway, means for moving the frames at opposite sides of the strand relatively toward and away from each other for adjusting the width of the guideway, the latter means including first elements of one frame slideably received in second elements of the opposite frame, and spacing members adapted to engage said second elements for establishing and maintaining a desired spacing of the opposite frames relative to each other, said first and second elements being respectively cylinders and pistons and piston rods, and means for moving said pistons and piston rods relatively in and out of the cylinders.

2. In a continuous casting plant wherein a strand of metal continuously cast in a mould emerges therefrom, a guideway for the strand comprising guide rollers mounted in frames that are located to be at respectively opposite sides of the strand, each of the rollers being resiliently mounted in the frames by springs for movement, relative to the frames, toward and away from a strand passing through the guideway, said springs including a first spring mounted for urging the roller associated therewith toward said strand and a second spring biased to resist movement of said roller away from said strand with greater pressure than applied by the first spring, means for moving the frames at opposite sides of the strand relatively toward and away from each other for adjusting the width of the guideway, the latter means including first elements of one frame slideably received in second elements of the opposite frame, and spacing members adapted to engage said second elements for establishing and maintaining a desired spacing of the opposite frames relative to each other.

3. In a continuous casting plant wherein a strand of metal continuously cast in a mould emerges therefrom, a guideway for the strand comprising guide rollers mounted in frames that are located to be at respectively opposite sides of the strand, means for moving the frames at opposite sides of the strand relatively toward and away from each other for adjusting the width of the guideway, the latter means including first elements of one frame slideably received in second elements of the opposite frame, said first and second elements being respectively cylinders and pistons and piston rods, means for moving the pistons and piston rods relatively in and out of the cylinders, spacing members adapted to engage said second elements for establishing and maintaining a desired spacing of the opposite frames relative to each other, an abutment member on each of said piston rods, said spacing members being members of predetermined thickness pivotally mounted to move into and out of position laterally across the piston rods between the cylinders and said abutment members for establishing and maintaining the positions of the piston rods and pistons with respect to the cylinders, said spacing members for a plurality of piston rod and cylinder combinations being coupled to movable rods in a group for moving the spacing members coupled thereto in unison into and out of said position.

4. The guideway of claim 3 which includes means reciprocating said rods. 1

for 

